Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy
Introduction and purpose: Depression remains the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting the lives of nearly 300 million people. A particularly severe form of depression is treatment-resistant depression (TRD), which is associated with significant health, social, and economic problems. Its...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Quality in Sport |
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| Online Access: | https://apcz.umk.pl/QS/article/view/60326 |
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| author | Magdalena Kupis Monika Paszkowska Patrycja Znamirowska Klaudia Mularczyk Łukasz Karaban Anna Jakubiak Joanna Miśkiewicz Michał Borawski Aleksandra Ciuła Tadeusz Kuźnieców |
| author_facet | Magdalena Kupis Monika Paszkowska Patrycja Znamirowska Klaudia Mularczyk Łukasz Karaban Anna Jakubiak Joanna Miśkiewicz Michał Borawski Aleksandra Ciuła Tadeusz Kuźnieców |
| author_sort | Magdalena Kupis |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Introduction and purpose: Depression remains the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting the lives of nearly 300 million people. A particularly severe form of depression is treatment-resistant depression (TRD), which is associated with significant health, social, and economic problems. Its prevalence varies due to the lack of a unified definition. This paper reviews the efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of TRD.
Material and methods: A comprehensive search of the PubMed database was conducted to identify studies published between 2015 and 2025 that focused on electroconvulsive therapy in the context of treatment-resistant depression. The search strategy included keywords such as “electroconvulsive therapy,” “treatment-resistant depression”, “safety of electroconvulsive therapy.’’ Relevant articles were reviewed and evaluated based on the reported outcomes and the authors’ conclusions.
A brief description of the state of knowledge: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) affects a great number of patients diagnosed with major depressive. Effective management of TRD requires appropriate pharmacotherapy, careful diagnostic evaluation and consideration of patient adherence. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) appears to be the most thoroughly researched and clinically effective method, particularly in severe cases and in populations at higher risk, such as older adults and pregnant women.
Conclusions: ECT remains one of the most effective treatment alternatives for TRD, especially in patients with severe symptoms or psychotic features. Choosing between these treatments should be guided by clinical context, patient characteristics, and personal preferences. Equally important is the need to continue working on breaking the stigma around mental health conditions and ECT, by raising awareawareness, educating people, and ensuring everyone has equal access to safe and effective treatment.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-80c729e33127403f9e8cfef5345a34b1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2450-3118 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Quality in Sport |
| spelling | doaj-art-80c729e33127403f9e8cfef5345a34b12025-08-20T03:52:52ZengNicolaus Copernicus University in ToruńQuality in Sport2450-31182025-05-014110.12775/QS.2025.41.60326Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Electroconvulsive TherapyMagdalena Kupis0https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4454-5866Monika Paszkowska1https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2006-0098Patrycja Znamirowska2https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7538-5315Klaudia Mularczyk3https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3250-7806Łukasz Karaban4https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9285-469XAnna Jakubiak5https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0973-7591Joanna Miśkiewicz6https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3300-940XMichał Borawski7https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4864-7336Aleksandra Ciuła8https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0425-863XTadeusz Kuźnieców9https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2120-9549Casimir Pulaski University of Radom, Faculty of Medical Sciences and Health SciencesMiędzylesie Specialist Hospital in Warsaw Bursztynowa 2, 04-749 Warsaw, PolandSpecialist Hospital Dr. Tytus Chałubiński in Radom Lekarska 4, 26-610 Radom, PolandMiędzylesie Specialist Hospital in Warsaw Bursztynowa 2, 04-749 Warsaw, PolandMiędzylesie Specialist Hospital in Warsaw Bursztynowa 2, 04-749 Warsaw, PolandNational Medical Institute of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration Wołoska 137, 02-507 Warsaw, PolandProvincial Hospital in Kielce Grunwaldzka 45, 25-736 Kielce, PolandBrothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God Hospital in Cracow Trynitarska 11, 31-061 Cracow, PolandBrothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God Hospital in Cracow Trynitarska 11, 31-061 Cracow, PolandMiędzylesie Specialist Hospital in Warsaw Bursztynowa 2, 04-749 Warsaw, Poland Introduction and purpose: Depression remains the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting the lives of nearly 300 million people. A particularly severe form of depression is treatment-resistant depression (TRD), which is associated with significant health, social, and economic problems. Its prevalence varies due to the lack of a unified definition. This paper reviews the efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of TRD. Material and methods: A comprehensive search of the PubMed database was conducted to identify studies published between 2015 and 2025 that focused on electroconvulsive therapy in the context of treatment-resistant depression. The search strategy included keywords such as “electroconvulsive therapy,” “treatment-resistant depression”, “safety of electroconvulsive therapy.’’ Relevant articles were reviewed and evaluated based on the reported outcomes and the authors’ conclusions. A brief description of the state of knowledge: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) affects a great number of patients diagnosed with major depressive. Effective management of TRD requires appropriate pharmacotherapy, careful diagnostic evaluation and consideration of patient adherence. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) appears to be the most thoroughly researched and clinically effective method, particularly in severe cases and in populations at higher risk, such as older adults and pregnant women. Conclusions: ECT remains one of the most effective treatment alternatives for TRD, especially in patients with severe symptoms or psychotic features. Choosing between these treatments should be guided by clinical context, patient characteristics, and personal preferences. Equally important is the need to continue working on breaking the stigma around mental health conditions and ECT, by raising awareawareness, educating people, and ensuring everyone has equal access to safe and effective treatment. https://apcz.umk.pl/QS/article/view/60326electroconvulsive therapyECTtreatment resistant depressionTRD |
| spellingShingle | Magdalena Kupis Monika Paszkowska Patrycja Znamirowska Klaudia Mularczyk Łukasz Karaban Anna Jakubiak Joanna Miśkiewicz Michał Borawski Aleksandra Ciuła Tadeusz Kuźnieców Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy Quality in Sport electroconvulsive therapy ECT treatment resistant depression TRD |
| title | Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy |
| title_full | Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy |
| title_fullStr | Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy |
| title_short | Treatment-Resistant Depression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy |
| title_sort | treatment resistant depression the role of electroconvulsive therapy |
| topic | electroconvulsive therapy ECT treatment resistant depression TRD |
| url | https://apcz.umk.pl/QS/article/view/60326 |
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